Rain World expansion to bring easy mode & multiplayer

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When we looked at survival platformer Rain World [official site] we found a gorgeous and intriguing world but one that often felt too brutal to fully enjoy. So it’s good news that an upcoming expansion will add an easier mode, where you play as a yellow slugcat nicknamed “The Monk” who needs less food to survive and doesn’t provoke the ire of as many of the world’s vicious animals. Namaste, little Monkcat.

This is only one feature of the upcoming update, say developers Videocult. Also planned are a level editor, multiplayer arenas and – perhaps most exciting – a host of new creatures. Come peep at the deets.

The Monkcat will need less food but will be “physically weaker, meaning that spears and rocks are less viable as weapons”. On the upside, karma gates (the large locked gates that allow travel between regions but only if you’ve hibernated multiple times) will always be open for the Monk, which will likely make a big difference to players who just want to explore.

However, on top of the yellow Monk character, there’s also planned to be a pink player character called “The Hunter” which will make the game harder. Oh good.

The hunter must make predators into prey, killing and eating larger creatures such as lizards to survive! Its heightened metabolism makes it faster, stronger and more dangerous, but also means that it requires significantly more food to survive hibernation.

As a necessity of its lifestyle, it has learned to carry extra spears on its back like the scavengers do. It is a being pushing beyond the confines of its place in the ecosystem, and thus is karmically imbalanced in this world… shunned by the spiritual realm, no karma flowers spawn and it must find its own way.

Part of that actually makes it seem easier. More spears? Being able to eat dead lizards? That’d be useful. To keep these colourful cats on their toes, there’s also a bunch of new flora and fauna being added, some of which will be exclusive to each particular slugcat. Look at these spear-nosed dragonfly things.

Horrible.

That’s only a taster, though. All this mentioned in a GIF-heavy update post on the game’s Kickstarter page. But, as ever, if you want to be surprised by the environment and its horrors, don’t look at that. Or our own Rain World bestiary.

As for the multiplayer, it will introduce “up to 4 player competitive play in over 50 unlockable new rooms and various modes specifically designed for multiplayer and arena challenges.” Although, it’s not clear if this is local-only multiplayer or online. Meanwhile, a level editor is also planned in the expansion so that players can create their own rooms and share them over Steam.

Although they’ve been working on this since the game’s release, there’s no word on a date for this big ol’ update. “We have made significant progress,” say Videocult, “but are waiting on some business-side stuff from our publisher to go through before we can take the next steps and set any official dates.”

So, on top of a previous patch that tweaked controls and other small-but-important problems, Rain World is likely to become much more welcoming as a result. Praise the cat!

9 Comments

Exciting! I bloody love Rain World. It’s such a beautiful place to explore, and no other game makes me fear death quite like it…which seems like an odd thing to say, considering its punishment for death isn’t really that harsh, but the deadpan of just…suddenly being a ragdoll in the mouth of something that wanted to eat you is wonderfully terrifying.

Yeah, so many of the creatures are just extra creepy because of the physics based movement or the sounds they make when consuming you. Like the way the daddy longlegs move is so off putting and the sound the make when they stuff you in their gorb, ewwww. I must have got sucked into the immobile ones in 5 Pebbles so many times but that noise still made me squirm.

Such a marvelously atmospheric game. Shame that it can really pile on fucking you over with the way the karma system works. I get what they were going for with making you get comfortable in a zone before you move on but with how unfair the game can be at times it can get really tedious.

Aside from when they block you from backtracking (which is crap!) I fully understand the karma gates. If you can’t get the karma to move into a new area there’s no way in hell you could handle that area. Considering the way checkpoints work that’s a dangerous proposition, because it would be very easy to luckily reach somewhere to hibernate above your skill level and stand no chance of getting back into a suitable zone.

Unfortunately, when they block you from moving into easier areas as well, they can have this very effect by themselves :(

I backed this on kickstarter and I’ve been following it since it was but a tiny prototype on TIGSource. Only just now got around to playing it in earnest though.

It’s lovely. Dark and mysterious, treacherous and unforgiving. I like that it doesn’t over-explain itself. I’m not one for punishing games particularly, but the capricious nature of the game really fits its strange ecology.